They call her Nora
by CEGold
Summary: Ren reflects on his relationship with his best friend. Rated T for language.


**OMG this is, like, the first fan-fiction that I've written and actually finished in years. Thank you, inspiration! This one is told threw Lie Ren's POV about his best friend Nora. It's mostly a friendship story, but there are things in here for the shippers to eat up, as well!**

**Like I said before, this is my first story in literally years, so I apologize for any OOCness and overall bad writing. Please enjoy and maybe I'll do a follow up from Nora's perspective ;)**

* * *

_They call her Nora_

It's her name. Yes, The orange and pink ball of energy that everyone avoided since 3rd Grade even has a name. The hyperactive busybody has a favorite color too- green. The hammer wielding huntress-in-training had a favorite delicacy- my specialty pancakes and maple syrup that I only got good at because of her. Team JNPR's secret weapon had emotions besides her optimism and she was far smarter than anyone gave her credit for.

* * *

It was my first day of school when I met her. I had transferred late because of my dad finding a new job. He assured me that it was a great school and that even he had attended it before when he was my age.

I hated it.

For one, the teachers talked down to us like we couldn't understand what they were saying. I still remember Ms. Corey teaching us about the history of Vale and where Dust came from. If I had the desire to be a difficult student, I would've corrected some of the many mistakes she would make during a lesson. But instead, I would just hide my book, _The Art of War_, inside my text book and pretend to be paying attention.

Speaking of books, I couldn't read any outside of the classroom due to the curiosity of my peers. They would even defile the sanctity of the library with their pestering questions:

"What book ye readin'?"

"Why do you have a pink highlight?"

"Do you know martial arts?"

"What happened to your mom?"

"Can you talk?"

"Do you play any sports?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

That last one was the more numerous and infuriating than any question I had been asked. I was in school to get an education and become a Hunter. Besides, I was 7! Why would I need a presence like a girlfriend so early on in my life. I know I've been called an old man by my teammates, but even back then I was ahead of everyone in my class.

Well, until I met Nora Valkyrie.

I still remember as if it was yesterday. It was lunch and everyone wanted me to sit with them. I could easily see that it wasn't because of any interest of making friends, but to further their young political movements. I had no intentions of getting involved with any cliques, not now or ever. That's when I spotted a lone female with short orange hair, eating her lunch to herself with a grin that seemed out of place for someone with, allegedly, no friends. Oh well, hopefully her presence will ward of the hyenas of grade school and net me some kind of peace.

My god, I was wrong.

"What'sthat?! Didyoucookit?! Itsmellsreallyreallyreallyreallygood! EveythingIcookburns. Onetime," She paused for a second, debunking my hypothesis that she was a form of higher life form that didn't require any air. But she went right back into her rapid fire questions, stories, and everything in between. It was noisy and some of her questions were a bit intrusive. The only adjective my young mind could pair her with would be annoying.

Annoying, yet somewhat... _adorable_. Hell, over time her rambling and lack of filter of what to and what not to say was refreshing. I found myself going back to her table for lunch, and each time I never uttered a word. I would silently eat my home cooked lunch, work on school work, and listen to her ask non-stop questions. All up until,

"That'swrongyouknow."

"What?" It took me a whole second to process what she had said. She was just talking about her love for sloths, which was odd considering who she was.

"Your answer for number 4," She says a bit slower this time, but with that same grin on her face. "Ursa's hibernate for 6 months, not 8. The only ones to hibernate for 8 months are the cubs." She stated like it was the most common thing in the world. Even I had over looked that detail. She giggled at my mouth hanging open.

"Yourteetharereallywhite! Yourdentistmust-" And we're back to the rambling.

That day though, I learned that Nora wasn't just a bundle of energy. She was actually pretty knowledgeable in some areas. Besides cooking. And talking at a reasonable speed.

A few weeks pass by and I continue to sit myself at Nora's table. She always greets me with a wide smile and asks how my day goes, which I reply with a formal, "Good." We weren't friends or anything. Just two students who shared a table at lunch.

"Ren?" I peered up from my lunch, cheeks full of rice and steak. That was enough for her to continue her inquiry. "Why...why do you sit here " She didn't sound like herself. For one, I could understand her. And she sounded... nervous. "I mean, I know I can get a bit chatty," _A bit?_ "But no one has ever tolerated me for this long without a reason."

I look up to the ceiling for a split second before looking back into her blue orbs, "MMmmMM." I say 'I don't know' without opening my mouth. I have proper table etiquette and swallow my food before actually speaking. "You're not as bad as everyone tries to make you out to be." I was being completely honest. I said it as if I was discussing the autumn season, but she takes it like I just told her we were best friends.

"REALLY?!" She slams her hands on the table, which nearly makes me choke on my food, and leans forward closer to hear me better. "You reallyreallyreallyreallyreally-"

I halt her with a single hand raised, cutting her off before she can get started. "Yes," I can feel the corner of my mouth twitch. Her enthusiasm is infectious. And that's dangerous to the self-image I'm trying to craft. "I really mean it."

* * *

That's how we became friends. It wasn't dramatic like the movies and books portrayed it.

By the time we got our acceptance letters into Beacon, Nora and I had been cemented as best friends and nearly inseparable. Her family had allowed me to stay with them when my father left again due to business, which wasn't surprising; he liked the Valkyrie's and thought they would be a positive influence on his reserved son.

But if he knew how laid back and hands off Mr. and Mrs. Valkyrie were with their daughter, then he might have been hesitant. Nora slept in her own bed maybe a single time ever since I moved in.

"Ren..." I can hear her terrible attempt at whispering, and I want to respond, but the part of me that wants to lull back to sleep is keeping me quiet. Maybe she would realize I'm asleep and try to-

"REEENNNNN..." _Sigh_. She really needs to work on whispering. I'm sure her parents heard her that time. Oh well. She wouldn't wake me up unless it was important.

"Hm?" I release a soft grunt to signify that I was listening, but also to subtly tell her that I was tired.

"It... it happened again."

We were well pass the times of changing bed sheets due to 'accidents' during the middle of the night. So it could only be one thing...

"Jeff?" Just saying the name, I could hear her grip her pink comforter tighter. And if I really know her, which I do, she just glanced between the closed closet door and motionless curtains on the window that hung on the wall between our beds. She makes a sound that informs me that I was correct. "You should probably stop reading those creepy pastas before bed." I suggest.

There was a silence in the room. I could hear the wind pushing the tree branches nearest our window in a rhythmic pattern. The pitter-patter of slight rain is calming to me and almost tricks me to punching a ticket to dreamland. Nice try, mother nature. "Nora?"

"Yeah?"

"..." I open my mouth but I can't think of how to properly word what I'm trying to say. How do you tell your female best friend that she can get in the same bed with you and that if Jeff the Killer came for her, he would have to answer to Lie Ren. And **_no one_** that makes her tremble will be let off easy.

Instead of using words, I turn on my right side, looking at my friend who was across the room. Her eyes were wide and darted uncontrollably around the dark room. I could tell that these night terrors were really getting to her.

"C'mon." I say lazily. Next thing I know, she's scurrying across the wooden floor and launches herself into the air- her pink sheets like a cape in the air behind her. She lands perfectly behind me with an 'Oomph' escaping from between my lips. Nora really has a talent for mid-air turning... which is quite the unique talent

I feel her hands grip the back of my pajama shirt before she hesitantly snakes an arm around me, pulling me into her as she buries her head between my shoulders with a content hum. It's enough to bring a smile to my face.

"Thanks Ren." Her voice vibrates into my back.

"You don't have to thank me," I yawn. "I'll always protect you."

* * *

I've built up a reputation at Beacon as Team JNPR's weakest link. It's what it is. I don't put too much stock into the opinions of anyone outside of my friends and teammates. Never have. So what if I got taken out by a baby Ursa once? So what if they snicker when I pass by in the halls? So what if Cardin threatens to spread the rumor that the reason I still have this pink streak in my hair was because it was a tribute to my, and I quote, _"One and only goddess, Nora Valkyrie"_?

Sure, that was enough to turn Nora into a dust cloud of hammer swings, grenades, and "we're not together _together_", but I knew that I had the thickest skin of anyone at Beacon. Cardin could call me every insult in his pathetically low vocabulary and I would simply acknowledge his efforts and walk away. It's that easy for me.

But when he threatens my team, that's when I lose my patience.

Especially if it's Nora he's threatening. Like he currently is.

Everything was in slow-motion; Nora was on one leg, the left leg having been injured somehow, he deduced from how she was favoring her right leg and the grimace on her face. The members of CRDL standing around, playing the bias jury with their smug smirks and grins. And then there was Cardin with his mace raised high in the air, shouting explicits, being the executioner. All I caught, and needed to catch, was a single line.

"Learn your place, _bitch_."

Before anyone knew it, a green blur had scooped Nora into its arms and skidded to a halt a few feet away from her original position, which was kneeling in front of Cardin. Judging from the mixed expression of confusion and anger, I can guess he didn't see this outcome. He definitely won't see what's next.

"Ren? What are yo-" I can hear Nora asking me a question, but I can't afford to take my attention off of the group of bullies before me.

"Jaune and Pyrrha are training." I interrupted my best friend. "It's no fun being a third wheel, so I came looking for you." I still had my attention to Cardin and his group of cronies, who had all drawn their weapons and got into defensive stances at this point. Futile.

I took a step forward. Slow. Light. Ominous. "I work hard to keep my reputation as a 'sloth'." I keep my crawling pace, despite every inch of me wanting to break out into a sprint and thrash the group of bullies. "But it's people like you," I step on a branch and snap it in two with a satisfying crunch. "That tries my patience." Another branch. Another snap.

"H-hey," The one with a Mohawk squeaks out, obviously feeling some form of primal fear; the fear of an innocent sheep actually being a vicious wolf in disguise. "Maybe we should jus-" Cardin shoots him a glare, taking his eyes off of me. His first, and only, mistake.

Before he can turn back, I'm in front of him. In a green blur, I poke three spots on his arm; underneath his elbow, the side of his elbow, and the middle of his under arm. Before he can speak or react, I release a forceful palm to his chest and push him stumbling backwards.

He recovers and goes to charge me, but he begins to notice that his strong arm has lost all strength from the elbow down. He struggles to keep a good grip on his mace before it drops to the floor with a thud. With a wounded glare he begins to speak, "What the fu-"

"Pressure points." I answer his question before he can show how much of a barbarian he is. "The human body is literally covered in them. With just the right amount of force I can paralyze you,"

I take a stance with my left hand facing the group with the palm of my hand pointing back at me.

"_Torment_ you."

I hear 4 collective gulps.

"And even _kill_."

I smile innocently, venom dripping from each word. I slide a foot forward and have to resist the urge to chuckle as Cardin jumps backwards as if I burned him. This isn't the sloth that everyone makes fun of. No. This is an animal that has had one of it's precious young threatened and is ready to bite out your throat.

After a heavy silence, I decide to put them out of their misery. "Leave." And just like that, they took off running with their tail between their legs. Or they would be if they were a canine Faunus.

I drop my stance and release a breathe that I had not known that I was holding. I turn on my heel to Nora who has her arms crossed, brow furrowed, and cheeks slightly puffed. She's trying to be intimidating, I know she is, but I can't help but smile- she doesn't have the features to be intimidating the way I can. I've had years of being stoic and void of any emotion to be the one-no-one-ever-expected-to-snap. She's been smiling and being the biggest 2 year old I knew for a better part of a decade. It's hard to be intimidated by someone who cries at the bridge scene in the Lion King.

"I would've handled them even with my bad ankle." She pouts.

"I know." I place my hands up in mock surrender. "But remember my promise?"

Bringing up my vow to protect her washes her pout from her face and replaces it with an innocent blush. I guess now that we aren't young and naive, it does sound _a_ _little_ suggestive. Surely something most people who aren't together_ together_ would say. But all I can focus on is how cheesy it sounded leaving my mouth all those years ago. But they still ring true.

"You did look pretty cool." She admits with a smile. Even after all these years, her smile is still infectious to me. "Help me to the room?"

I walk to where she was rooted, thanks to her bad ankle. "If you mean the infirmary?" I turn my back to her and crouch down so she can climb on my back, piggy-back style. "Then yes."

She climbs on and I hook my arms around her legs before standing. There's a golden silence before,

"Ren?"

"Yes, Nora?"

"Boop!" She pokes my nose and I can feel her grin against my cheek.

I simply roll my eyes with a silly smile on my face as we leave the clearing of the forest.

My name is Lie Ren. My best friend is Nora Valkyrie. We are a team. If the world were to become her enemy, I would become her shield. The docile sloth would shed its habits and take the form of a menacing wolf to protect what's closest to it.

* * *

**So how did I do? I hope it was enjoyable!**

**This is based off of a Random Prompt Generator that came up with the prompt "Her name is Nora". No lie. That is what they gave me. Hopefully I get something good for the Arkos fic I've been struggling to write. Anyway, I'm rambling.**

**Leave a comment and tell me how I did! Constructive Criticism is appreciated! Flames will be put out with my trusty fire extinguisher :3**


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